Gimp's Short Stories
by Gimp666
Summary: A collection of oneshots. There is a combination of Classic Rockman and the X series in here. Latest fic - 4. Skeletons in the closet: Zero hasn't been completely truthful with X about their relationship RMX
1. Empty Promises

A/N This is actually the tame version of this fic. The full version is ?list260

Apologies for not updating so long, things are always crazy around here and it's been a bunch of small things. Hopefully I'm a little more on track now, I'm already working on another one shot, and I have been working for quite awhile at a big project on the side.

As always, reading is appreciated, reviews are even nicer.

Empty Promises

"Rock, what do you think of Forte?"

The question was sudden and straightforward, the boy found he couldn't answer it immediately. Not that question, especially so soon after they discovered their strange ally was in actuality a Wily bot, betraying them and busting the old man out of prison. He poured over it slowly, considering it, and then sighed. "I dunno. You mean Forte; the guy who was staying with us and lending a hand, or Forte; the guy who set us up?"

Roll flopped down next to him lightly, resting her chin on his pillow. Rock was depressed, and acting really off since the events of that morning. Sometimes she wished she knew what her brother was thinking, he was so hard to read sometimes. "I don't know… Aren't they the same guy anyway?" She poked at the headboard a little, thinking.

"Not at all." Rock frowned, leaning up and glancing at her, depressed. "One's a real charmer… He says and does all the right things and he's easy to befriend. He's kind and generous….. But that Forte's just an illusion. He's really just a snake in the grass. The Forte who stayed here doesn't exist. Right?"

Roll sighed softly, feeling bad. She knew Rock had taken a liking to Forte, and this only confirmed her suspicions that her brother was heartbroken. The taller boy had been someone for Rock to hang out with, as Blues was hardly around lately. It was obvious that he'd been crushed by his supposed friend's betrayl. "Yeah, I guess that's true…" And he'd seemed so sincere, too.

Rock bit his lip, sinking into his pillow more. "I should have known… The only other person who could build a 'bot like that around here is Wily." How could he have been so stupid and naïve? Why couldn't he see that it had just in a ruse, to get to his father's lab and rob the poor man blind. "I trusted him…"

Roll shifted over, hugging her brother comfortingly. "We all did. Don't beat yourself up over this." Rock rolled over, returning the hug, and nodded a little. "At least we found out now, beforewe got too close…" The situation would have been worse had Forte learned the family's secrets.

Rock sighed and slid the covers over his head, face colouring slightly. Close... She had no idea. His eyes slid shut momentarily and he saw warm, bare flesh, thick, swollen lips assaulting his own… "Yeah… You're right." A pause. "I'm going to bed now. It's late."

Roll pulled the covers back a little, peering down at him worriedly. "It's not late. We haven't even had supper yet." Was Rock sick? Something had to be wrong, she had never seen Rock turn down a meal in his life yet. What was up with him today?

"I'm tired, not hungry." Rock argued with, muttering sheepishly and fighting with her for the blanket. He just wanted to sleep. He wanted to the day to be finished with, to forget everything for a few moments. "I'll eat a big breakfast." He added to appease her. She sighed, giving her assent, and he accepted a kiss planted on his cheek, returning it, and shadows flooded the room as he was left to his thoughts.

He lay in silence for several moments, staring at the ceiling before he allowed the thoughts of the previous night to catch up with him. So much had happened, and he hadn't allowed himself any time to think about just what had happened.

He had been tense, and suspicious of the new bot. Forte had done everything right, yet there was something about him that Rock couldn't trust. He had been in his current position, unable to sleep and admittedly spying on his resting ally, when Forte had suddenly rolled over and, well… kissed him.

Even now, as he remembered it, he found his hand wandering down to his crotch, fingers tracing over it idly, emulating Forte's surprisingly fleecy touch. He bit his lip lightly, breath hitching. He wasn't the type of person to do something like this, he'd never been-heck, he didn't even **_like_** doing this, and yet suddenly his hand was working his body- Just like Forte had done. It felt good. He turned over, burying his face in his pillow and lifting his hips.

At first Rock had been shocked by the happenings, even deeply opposed to them, but his protests were fast quelled as his clothing was shed and Forte's mass of violet hair began its slow decent down Rock's smooth neck. It felt surprisingly good, and he let Forte's hands do as they pleased, sticking a pillow over his face to muffle small cries.

Rock was making similar cries even now, as his hands wandered over his body, teasing him. He had been easy, and Forte had used him. He had no one to blame but himself for his sexual awakening. He should never have let Forte do half of the things he did. He should never have let him…

It had hurt badly at first, and he'd cried, aching and afraid, until Forte had murmured something soothing in his ear, the only words he'd spoke that night, though they couldn't quite come to mind now, with the frenzy his body was in. Somehow he'd managed to survive those first few minutes and things quickly became more intense. Forte took no time in dominating the small body beneath him and it wasn't long before-

Rock slid down slowly, stomach meeting the mattress as his hands retreated, leaving him with an exhausting kind of emptiness and an overwhelming, burning shame. He'd played himself right into the Wily bot's trap. He'd given himself up without a fight, and had let Forte get intimately close- leaving himself depressed and vulnerable. How was he going to fight Forte now that they were suddenly enemies? It was all his fault, and he'd enjoyed every minute of it. Now he was alone and dirty, and he felt awful, like a rag someone had used then tossed aside, to be thrown out at its owner's convenience.

His body racked with sobs and he hugged his pillow, allowing Forte's words- the painful words his mind had blocked out until now to return. And he found with a numbing sense of dread that they, like everything else about Forte, were a lie.

"_It's okay, Rock. I'd never hurt you, I promise. You can trust me…"_


	2. Forte

A/N- Feeling depressed, this just kind of started flowing out. It's short and really structured. I don't know if I like it or not yet, but at least I posted something, or something like that. I really need to edit crap and get it up here, but I just don't have the effort, especially tonight, after lying in my bed for two hours with a phone that never rings… literally. You'll have to forgive me if I do my disappear routine for a little longer, I just don't have the will to write a bunch of garbage anymore. But I'll stop moping now and what not.

Forte

I have absolutely no one I can rely on in my life. There aren't too many people who can say that, but I'm one of those special few with that luxury. Even that little retard's brother has someone, when he gets his head out of his ass long enough to ask for help; which, as far as I can tell, isn't often.

I'll never have someone I can rely on; someone who gives a damn about me. Not that it bothers me. I'm a pretty tough guy, and I don't let that shit get to me. Honestly, I don't even know what those emotions feel like- love, friendship… family. It's not like I'm yearning for something I once had, because it was never there. So I really don't care. Instead, I focus on my goals. They're all I have in life.

Sometimes I wonder what I'll do after my goals are met; then I remind myself not to think about it. It usually works, but sometimes when those rusty wheels I never use in my head start turning… Would I have regrets? Would I be kept around? Would I want to be? These are only a scant few thoughts that whirl in my head; dizzying, and confusing, unbalanced thoughts. I don't like it, so I try not to think. I just do what I'm told, and it helps things run smoother.

Wily… His goals are my goals. My life is his life. He reminds me of that daily- reminds me how easy it would be to snuff that life out, if I don't help him reach his goals. Do I hate Rockman? Yes. I can't answer why, but if you don't think about it, you don't need a reason. All you need it hate; I have a lot of that. Hate's a funny thing, it's not easy to control, but it's easy to redirect to a new source when you can't take it out on the original one. I'm good at that- it's how I've survived for so long. How I've outlasted the rest.

It wasn't hard. The easiest way to survive was to avoid any emotions. I don't need them anyway. Killing is all about a lack of emotion, really. With the exception of feeling hate. I don't really even need anger to kill. It does help speed the process, though; it's also something I'm not in short supply of. Sometimes I wish things could be different.

Sometimes I wish I could be free of all that hate, maybe things would be different. But there's not much chance for that. There isn't a place in the world for a lone robot (and maybe his support unit too), people fear my kind; and there's certainly no place for me at the Light residence. So I keep roughing it alone, and trying to survive. After all… I have absolutely no one I can rely on in my life


	3. X x Axl for Grumpy Writer

X and Axl Oneshot

A/N: Not particularly fond of this pairing (hiss) but my girlfriend asked me to write it so I have no say XD;;;; In any case, posting it here in all its random glory lol. It's not a long fic, and it's not meant to be very involving, all it had to do was be romantic (.o;) and have sex. We all know how much of a romantic I am, so you can imagine how difficult this was for me XD;; in the end I went HA! to Grumpy and she is still writing her fic. o.o

Onto fic XD;;;

_Sex is hardly ever just about sex._

_ Shirley MacLane_

X filled out the day's paperwork quietly, hunched over his desk so far that at first glance one could easily mistake him for sleeping. He wasn't, much to his discontent. They were still filing reports after the last major maverick attack, and if that weren't enough, X found himself in the midst of another staff rollover.

They had lost a lot of hunters in the last war, and those who hadn't been killed had drifted up through the rinks to replace those who had. And that meant a new recruitment campaign. He found himself buried in more paperwork than he could shake a stick at, and sleep had become a rare commodity.

Not that that affected Zero any. He heard a small snort and rolled his eyes, casting a glance in his partner's direction. No, Zero had no problem sleeping at all. In fact, he'd found a way to incorporate his paperwork into his regular sleeping schedule.

"Zero, you're drooling on your paperwork." X sighed, tapping the blonde and receiving nothing but a grunt in response. He couldn't really blame the taller man, though. While things had been easier for Zero on the paper trail of things – his unit was much smaller, Unit 00 – but Zero had been on field duty every night that week.

X grabbed his coat, smiling slightly, and covered his friend with it gently. Let him rest, he needed it. He filed the stack of finished paperwork he'd acquired, and decided to call it a day himself. On top of the whole slew of work he had to look forward to every day, he had a situation of his own to deal with. That situation had a name, and it was probably raiding his friend right about now. A small situation with two eyes, a big grin, and a large crisscrossed scar over his nose.

Axl had managed to weasel himself into their lie some six odd months ago, and as far as X could tell, his stay was going to be permanent. Not that he minded now. Axl could stay with the hunters until the sky fell down around them for all he cared.

He would love to say that he'd liked the redhead right from the start, but that had hardly been the case. X wasn't as young anymore, and his patience and tolerance banks had depleted over the years. Especially taking the fact that Zero was his best friend and partner into consideration – that would take a hit on anyone's sanity.

To make a long story short, X was a creature of habit, and he liked things a certain way – quiet, orderly, and regimented. Being in any army long term had that affect on someone, Zero excluded. Axl was loud, hyper, and into everything. In other words – they didn't exactly hit it off.

X absolutely abhorred the younger hunter, who got on his nerves. At least, he did until that day in the cleanup zone where Red Alert's headquarters had been located. That day had changed everything.

The mavericks always fell into a lull after a war, and this war had been no different. He had been assigned to cleanup duty, along with most of the hunters, supervising their progress and pegging off any remaining mavericks in the vicinity. Everything had seemed fine, they were making a lot of progress as the stress of the situation was slowly alleviated. Everyone seemed alright – Axl seemed happy. In fact, he seemed better than alright, he'd managed to convince them to let him join the hunters. As far as he could tell, everything was perfect. He couldn't have been more wrong if he'd tried.

Unbeknownst to any of them, there were a lot of awful things festering in Axl all those days as he slowly built up to a meltdown. He hadn't known who to talk to, since he hadn't made very many friends, and his state of mind was as far from the truth as one could get.

X had been halfway through his day straight of cleanup duty, and he was starting to get more than a little irritable. He'd left for a short while to deal with a problem in one of the sectors he was in charge of – a piece of rubble had collapsed on a handful of reploids dissecting one of the western sections of the building. When he returned, he was perturbed to find Axl unaccounted for. He was tired, and dirty, and he wasn't going to put up with any slacking on the job. Especially from someone who'd come from Red Alert in the first place.

He asked a few of the workers if they'd seen the little red-haired freak, and it didn't take long to get pointed in the right direction – Axl stuck out like a sore thumb. He headed off in that direction, closer to the parts of the enormous base that were still burning out leaked fuels. He held his hand up to his eyes, squinting through the veil of smoke and spotting a hazy patch of red. He'd found him, it seemed.

"Axl!" He shouted, louder than he'd originally intended, but that didn't make him any less annoyed. He stomped in his direction, hopping quickly over wreckage as he went and fuming at this point.

Axl responded with an odd sounding "O-over here!" Looking back on things now, he realized that the boy had been close to tears, but at the time he'd mistaken it for fear at being caught lying down on the job.

He stormed over to the smaller robot, shoving a blackened piece of metal plating out of the way, and set his hands on his hips in an almost maternal fashion. "Honestly! How are you ever going to become a hunter if you won't even do a little clean up work!" He sighed angrily, grumbling a little under his breath and gesturing around sharply. "Especially when this is partly your mess to being with!"

Axl looked up at him sulkily, looking rather unhappy at being chided that way, and said nothing, getting to his feet stiffly.

X continued angrily, no way was he going to let the little brat off that easily. He'd been waiting for a good reason to chew him out, and he planned to take full advantage of the opportunity. He let his voice raise up a notch. "You were heavily involved in the events of Red Alert, and… and.. Axl?"

The boy was still staring at him with that sulky, squeezed too hard expression, but now there were tears. Tears and a slight tremble to accompany them, like a live wire. He knew he wasn't that intimidating, so he safely ruled that out, which meant he was distraught for some other reason. Whatever the reason, Axl apparently had no intention of telling him.

"I have to go!" The smaller, more agile robot turned quickly, scrambling to make a rather hasty retreat, but X had too many years of experience under his belt to let a rookie hunter escape that easily. "Axl!" he bellowed, more from surprised than anything. He grabbed for the redhead, leaping forward and tackling him easily, looping his arms around his waist and jerking him back with a firm tug.

Axl cried out in protest, between hitching, gasping sobs, then actually _bit_ him. X wasn't wearing his armor, but Axl's teeth really didn't do much to dissuade him, and he held on tighter. The smaller hunter struggled harder and they both went down, Axl trying to wriggle free on his hands and knees. "Leave me alone!" he screamed unhappily.

X managed to twist Axl's struggling, writhing form around, gripping onto his shoulders. He wanted to shake the hysterical reploid, or slap him until he gained control of himself, but instead he bit his lip and held him in place, speaking to him soothingly. "Shh… Calm down, Axl. You're making a scene…" He made the younger bot look up, holding him with his eyes. "This really upsets you, doesn't it?"

Axl heaved barely controlled sobs, gasping for breath and shaking his head vehemently in denial. "It doesn't! I'm a hunter! I'm not.. not one of them! I'm not… I don't care about him! He abandoned me!"

X found himself taken aback by how venomous Axl's response had been. Abandoned…? He thought quietly, azure blue eyes still boring into Axl's wide emerald ones. Finally, the wheels started to turn slowly, and it became so obvious – so _damned_ obvious that the brunette couldn't believe he hadn't seen it sooner. How busy had he been hating Axl?

"Red…" X murmured quietly, frowning a little. "Was he your creator, Axl?" The anger fell away in rapid layers, like a veil pulled away from his face. He kept his grip on the rookie, but it loosened slightly. Axl wouldn't try to run anymore, he knew that without even asking, it was written all over the young robot's face.

Axl shook his head again, so hard that tears fell away from his face, too shaken up to bother wiping them away. A faint shudder ran up his spine as he tried to work a response out of his trembling lips. "No… I don't know who my creator is, but I know it wasn't him. He told me." He wound his arms around himself, hugging himself tightly.

"…But he was your father, wasn't he?" X did his best to give him a gentle look. He didn't want to push Axl too far, make him talk about something he couldn't handle, but this wound needed to be reopened so it could heal properly.

"…. I used to call him Papa Red…" Suddenly Axl's arms were around him, holding him painfully tight. The boy drew himself to the tips of his toes, burying his face in the older hunter's shoulder and sobbing loudly. X brought a hand up slowly, rubbing his back awkwardly and sighing. The redhead drew himself closer at that, letting weeks of built up stress and buried emotions best him as he crumpled against him.

"Axl…" he murmured comfortingly, truly feeling for the boy for the first time. He knew better than anyone what betrayal felt like, and could only imagine how long the boy had been bearing the cross alone. "Sigma _will_ pay for what he did… he'll pay for everything, I promise. No matter how many times he returns." He stayed that way for a long time, just holding him until Axl finally exhausted himself into shutdown.

Then he'd carried him home. His new home.

He'd had no idea how much that one simple act of kindness would change their relationship, not that he would take that back now, even with that knowledge. It had been the beginning.

After that day, Axl followed him around twice as much. At first it had gotten down to the barest of his nerves – tripping over another body day in and out can have that effect on a person. But as he spent more time in the boy's presence, and more time talking to and getting to know him, he found he didn't despise the boy as much as he thought. In fact, he found he began to rather enjoy the company.

He also learned a lot more about the redhead. Not just his fighting and DNA cloning capabilities, but _him_. He hadn't realized just how much Axl had been through, and wondered how he could remain in such good spirits while he himself was so clouded over with depression.

Granted, Axl hadn't been through nearly as much as X had – things had a habit of going bad for him and those around him, part of the reason he didn't go out of his way to make friends anymore. So far, the only people he was close to with a good track record were Alia and Zero. Well, Zero had a so-so record, he _did_ have a nasty habit of dying now and again.

The closer he had gotten to Axl, the more he thought of him as a friend. And then… he wasn't sure when or how the line between friendship and more had dissolved, but it had occurred just the same. It had started with the evolution from hug to kiss, then kiss to… Deeper things.

He couldn't explain how or why it had happened, but although he had no clear memory of the transitional period itself, he could remember the first time they had actually broken down the fourth wall of the friendship barrier itself.

Axl had moved into his quarters at some point – there had been no real decision about it. The boy had just started spending more time with the older hunter, and more and more of his personal belongings had ended up in the larger dormitory.

By that point, they were sharing a bed together, had done everything under the sun but that one act that changes everything, and Axl's old room was already host to a new rookie.

X had been lying in bed, thinking over a battle plan he and Zero had thrown together for the next day's mission, when the smaller man had stepped into the room, not a stitch of clothing about himself.

X looked up from the roughly sketched map he had been going over, and his mouth dropped at the sight, face flushing red with the heat of his blood. He diverted his eyes politely, although they had been fooling around a lot, it was an unspoken rule that they didn't allow themselves to see the other naked. The only person he had ever gotten a real look at stark naked was Zero. "H-hey, I was looking for you." He stammered, staring hard at the map again. "I won't be around most of tomorrow, Zero and I…" The words died in his throat as Axl came around the side of the bed, standing in front of him. "Axl!" He cried, exasperated.

The redhead leaned forward slightly, resting his hands on the older bot's shoulders. "It's okay!" he piped cheerily. "I… I want you to see." He stood back suddenly, resting his arms at his sides and giving X the chance to have a good glimpse at everything he owned.

X stared him over, eyes tracing up then down his body, feeling a blush rise slowly on his cheeks. "Axl…" He rose a hand up slowly, running it over the smooth rise and fall of his abdominal muscles as he breathed out silently, then roved around behind and came to rest on his firm ass. He splayed his fingers gently, guiding his middle digit down the cleft between his cheeks, past his entrance and continuing until they reached his sack.

Axl made a small whimper, arching back into the touch shyly and biting the back of his hand. "I want to see you too." he murmured quietly. X had always been the more secretive of the two, and Axl had seen a lot less of X than the older hunter had ever seen of him.

"…Okay." He gave him a small, shy smile and disrobed quietly, leaning back on the bed and letting Axl stare at his nude self. He watched Axl drink the sight of him in, eyes coming to rest finally on the older reploid's excitement.

"Is it going to hurt?" he inquired curiously, doing his best not to look nervous, and settled down next to the brunette quietly. He leaned against him gently, resting his head on his shoulder lightly and gazing up at him.

X pushed him back carefully and rolled onto him quietly, kissing his cheek and reaching down to hold his hand. He settled his lips on the boy's sweetly in a mock kiss. Leaning back a little, he murmured quietly. "It might hurt a little at first, I won't lie to you. But it's going to feel so good… so incredibly nice that you won't mind, and the pain goes away." He reached down, caressing Axl's length gently with his right hand and feeling him over. "Are you sure you want to do… this?" He asked patiently, gesturing idly and giving him the chance to back out if need be.

The redhead shook his head slightly, and the taller man fell on him, drawing a deep, dizzying kiss from his open mouth. He was excited, aroused, and nervous all at the same time. He knew what this meant, and remembered Zero's words of caution when he'd brought the change in the relationship's metrics up with him.

Unlike humans, reploids generally didn't stick to just a single partner, especially ones in the hunters. It wasn't entirely uncommon for one to be involved with several different people at the same time. X had always been a bit of an exception, and this was no different. Other than Zero he had never really expressed much of an interest in any other reploids, male or female. He'd had his fair share of others, but he typically turned his would be suitors down.

Zero had been very surprised when X had brought it up with him, and while he didn't seem to mind the idea very much, he had cautioned X to be very careful about how he went about things. Axl was still very young, he had warned.

X had taken that into careful consideration, and even now he had his reservations about things. But Axl seemed more than ready, and he felt himself relax a little. He slid a hand over the the boy's thigh gently, tracing it down to his knee, then used it to part his creamy legs, exposing what X ultimately wanted to take.

He pressed a finger over Axl's entrance, not yet penetrating, and earned a faint yet coherent "please" from the shorter bot. Encouraged by this, he kissed Axl again, this time refusing to free his mouth. Keeping the redhead distracted, he reached over, sliding his nightstand's drawer open quietly and withdrawing a small, cylindrical bottle of lubrication from it.

He spread the cold gel over his fingers, running it over Axl's cleft and pressing his middle finger into the boy gently. Axl made a small, discontent noise at the offending cold, and he worked to find his spot, finding it after a moment and earning a moan from the rookie as he lifted his hips to greet the enjoyable pressure. X smiled slightly in amusement as Axl's muscles clenched in an unconscious attempt to expel X's invading digit.

The brunette glanced up at the smaller man and couldn't help a small chuckle. Axl's face was flushed already, and he was staring at X with a bewildered expression, one of the hunter's pillows clutched tightly to him in a mock bear-hug. His chest was rising and falling in rapid succession – he was panting already and they'd hardly even begun. X cracked a small grin.

It never ceased to amuse and entertain X how easily excitable he was. "Hang tight, kid. We're just getting started." He reached up, cupping his cheek gently and bringing the younger hunter out of his daze. He kissed him again, slowly, and resumed moving his fingers inside him, making smooth scissoring motions to stretch and spread the tight knot resting between his cheeks.

He pulled his lips away and kissed the scar marking his nose lightly, earning a small giggle from the rookie, followed by a sharp intake of breath as X leaned down suddenly, suctioning him up into his mouth. He couldn't resist a mental grin at the sound – he loved playing with Axl, and he was pretty sure the feeling was very, _very_ mutual.

Axl reached down, a small shudder coursing through him as X swallowed around him, throat flexing and working him in deeper. He gripped onto X's unruly brunette mop with a sharp squeal he hadn't intended to make. "X… N-no… I'm gonna..!" He released his almost painful grip on the older man's hair and pushed on his head firmly. "T-together…!"

X paused, then slid him back out quietly, smiling to himself. "Alright… if you want to wait for me, we'll go together." He blushed slightly, easing his fingers out carefully and picking the lube up again. He applied a generous amount to himself with a sharp intake of breath at the cold, wet feeling against his stiff heat, then set the bottle aside and leaned over the shorter boy. "I want to make love to you." he murmured gently, pushing Axl's legs up so they rest on the taller man's shoulders.

He pressed in carefully with a slight shiver, earning a sharp gasp and a small moan from the redhead, leaning down to kiss him again as he took the younger hunter's virginity.

The boy kissed him back almost desperately, hips working against his eagerly as he squirmed to both stop and deepen the new sensation. He arched up heavily as X thrust deeper yet, hitting the pinnacle of warm pleasure and causing a loud squeak from him. He jerked up more, closing and compressing against X's length as the sensation increased, leading him to orgasm. He squealed loudly as he met his peak, legs crossing behind X's shoulder and pressing him tighter to him.

With a small whimper he settled back, panting and breathing hard. "a-ah.. X.." he sighed softly, spent.

X stared at him incredulously, looking horribly amused and deeply frustrated at that. "H-huh…? Did you… Already??" He groaned, frustrated with his own needs, kissing his forehead, then rolled him over and had him again.

X looked up with a mildly surprised expression, surprised he'd made the trek to his room already. He must have been seriously lost in his thoughts. A little too seriously, a glance south showed him. He felt himself blush slightly, embarrassed that Axl still managed to get him so hot.

He let himself into his room quickly, rolling his eyes as he heard Axl in the kitchen, doing just what he'd expected of the boy.

The shorter man peeked up over the door of the fridge, grinning at him impishly. "X! You're home! Oh thank god, I've been so bored, and I was getting really impatient waiting for you, do you know how boring it is here and…"

The boy continued to run on cheerily, brightening up the room somehow and he smiled. Maybe things weren't that bad after all.

End


	4. Skeletons in the Closet

**Skeletons in the Closet**

A/N: Just something I played around with in training while I zoned in and out and tried not to sleep lol has pneumonia Anyway, I've had this idea in my head for quite awhile now, I just never really sat down and worked it out. I decided to go with a first person perspective to it, I never do first persons, and I thought it would fit the story more. So I did it journal style.

Before I get lynched or something for this, please keep in mind that I'm an X/Zero fan too, I just wanted to try a new angle on things. So don't think I did this out of spite or anything. Besides, it is kind of an interesting idea, I think. I mean, Zero never really talks about what he thinks or feels, so it's plausible. shuts up

Reviews are nice. o.o

I have a secret. A deep, terrible secret. I've been lying to my best friend – no, my _lover_ for over a decade now. It's been fourteen years since the day I went head to head with Vile for what I thought would be the final time. Fourteen years since I met (and in a way, cheated) death.

I could never tell him – not now, at least. I sincerely believe this one secret, small on the outside but with deep roots, would completely destroy our relationship, and on a small scale him himself. X has always been a little on the sensitive side, anyone could tell you that, but he's even more sensitive when it comes to us. Despite all the success he's had against Sigma and the mavericks, despite the large spike in his popularity with just about everyone, X is the most insecure person I have ever met. He brings it to whole new levels.

He's always questioned his relationship with me, the depth of my feelings for him, whether I find him attractive, and just about anything and everything else you possibly _could_ worry about over one person. This would blow his world apart from the inside out, and I don't think he'd ever trust me, if anyone, ever again.

So instead, I write about it here.

I never intended to end my life to save X's. Hell, I certainly wasn't planning on dying that day. I'm not a martyr, or even a big hero, really. I wasn't even in love with him at the time, though I've adjusted. I think of my relationship with X as an arranged marriage, with little to no hope of ever being divorced. Under those circumstances, I've found myself able to become fond of him, even love him in my own way. It sounds cruel, but it's the truth.

Here's what really happened.

We had infiltrated Sigma's base, X and I, and had split up. During the time we were separated, X managed to get captured by Vile, who had every intention of doing the poor sucker in. I don't blame him for getting caught; after all, he was just a rookie and Vile's one mean son of a bitch.

I had gotten to know X rather well over the past seven months or so before the war, both as a diplomat and as a hunter, and while I didn't consider him a close friend (I didn't have any, to be honest), I didn't want to see him dead either. I'm one of the good guys, and besides, X had a lot of untapped potential; I could see that much already. Long story short, I jumped Vile in that stupid Chimera of his to do him in.

This is where things start to differ from the story everyone's heard by now, I'm sure. I didn't self destruct. I might be a little on the crazy side, but believe me, dying was the last thing I'd intended on. I'm not suicidal. Vile took a cheap shot at me, the rotten bastard. He caused the explosion himself, not me. See, unlike myself, Vile IS crazy.

I knew I was dying, and at that point in time, X was the only one within spitting distance of actually getting there in time to stop Sigma. And again, he really did have potential. That was why I encouraged him like that, not that I really thought we had much of a chance. I was just relieved that I wouldn't be alive to witness humanity's downfall. I can't even begin to go into how surprised I was when I awoke to find that everything was okay.

There. Now that doesn't sound so bad, does it? Only, it gets a lot worse than that. The real problems began after they managed to rebuild me. And even then things were alright (I mean, _hello_, I was alive), until the night after the end of the second war.

X had finally made it out of the repair ward, and he'd found me in the midst of a very heated argument with a rookie commander. To make a long story short, I'd discovered that although they'd seen fit to rebuild my body, they had not felt the same need to give me my room back, or hold onto my personal items. This, of course, only angered me more, especially when no one bothered to tell me and I found all this out by going to what I assumed was still my room. I was confused enough as it was without suddenly finding myself homeless and without any of my belongings.

I was just getting ready to start pulling punches when X reached out from behind me and grabbed my hand. I turned sharply, ready to give the person who interrupted my tirade a verbal thrashing, and he smiled at me, albeit nervously.

I smiled back. What else could I do? I was happy to see he was alive and well enough to finally give me some much needed answers, and X just has one of those smiles. You know the kind I'm talking about; sweet and innocent, it's contagious, and you can't help but return it. So I returned it, and he covered the rest of the distance between us, flustered and asking us to not fight amongst each other.

He told me he had my things in his room, and that if I wanted to, I could stay with him until my room assignments were sorted out and taken care of. It sounded like the best course of action, I didn't want to sleep outside or on a couch in the lobby, so I did. When we got back to his dormitory, I got showered and changed, and came out feeling a lot better. When I was finally calm enough to talk to, he seemed to just sense it and explained to me what had happened since I had died, and what I had missed. Surprisingly a lot, considering the short amount of time I'd been dead for.

It was at about this time that I discovered X's little mistake in my intentions, when I'd been killed by Vile. Apparently, he had been misinformed about _how_ I had died, and my alleged suicide led him to believe that it had been for him. He got a little misty eyed, and I… couldn't tell him. Not when he was looking at me with so much admiration, adoration, gratitude… expectation. What could I do? He really thought that I had died for his sake in some final act of love.

So, I didn't tell him. I lied instead, and told him I couldn't remember anything after stepping into the base. He seemed satisfied enough at that, although I think he knew I was lying, and probably thought I was trying to be modest. Unfortunately, modesty has never been one of my strong points.

He proceeded to spill his heart out to me, admitting that he was in love with me. Note: he said in love, not had a crush. There's a _big_ difference between the two; of course I panicked inwardly at that. I knew I should have come clean at that point, but he made it so hard, and part of me didn't want to. It had been far too long since I had gotten laid, and even some rookie hunter with the wrong plumbing was looking pretty good to me at that point. So instead, I told him I understood how I felt, and gave him the impression that I felt the same way, sealing the deal.

The more I write about this, the more I realize what an asshole I can be sometimes.

We made love that night, if you can call it that. At that point in time, there wasn't much love to it on my end. I think it was his first time, he seemed nervous, and eager enough (and tight, oh god so tight). It made me wonder how long he had been pursuing me for before I'd finally found out about it.

It was my first time with a man, and I learned two very important things that night. The first was that it was very different from having a woman, though with X it's sometimes hard to distinguish between the two. It was a bit of a learning process for me.

The second… I liked it. Realizing I was bisexual was probably in my best interests anyway, seeing as everyone and their mother now thought I was gay anyway. I figured I'd better get used to it. It was a surprisingly easy transition.

When I woke up the next morning, I had every intention of telling X the truth about what had happened, and how I really felt, but I… Well, I didn't. I've never been good at discussing how I feel, something X has been trying to change over the years. And after awhile, what happened didn't really seem to matter anymore. I found a happy medium with X. He provided a sense of stability I desired, and our relationship was… convenient.

It matters even less now, because over the years I've come to love him in my own way, thought I doubt it's even half as intense as he thinks it is. I've grown very fond of him over the years, and I think I would be at a loss without him. That's why he can never know the truth about what happened. Maybe one day I'll work up the nerve, but until then… In this journal it stays.

Tucked under some old boxes in the far corner of the closet, my own little skeleton.


End file.
